


Of Fire and Ice

by the-lady-storyteller (Billyz_Buddy)



Category: Sherlock (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Crossover of Epic Proportions, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-07-02
Packaged: 2018-01-10 20:59:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 19,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1164454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Billyz_Buddy/pseuds/the-lady-storyteller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Princess Shula of Azar has always known she was to be wed when she reached a certain age, to a man of blond hair and immense strength. But when Thor Odinson allows his father to keep the throne of Asgard, he sets off a chain of events that cannot be reversed. Now forced to marry the new King of Asgard, a man she has only heard of for his near destruction of two realms, Shula must learn to adjust to this new life. </p><p>And she is terrified she may not succeed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - Of Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice. 

\- Robert Frost


	2. The Queen Arrives

_She was a princess of a realm on the other end of the Cosmos, a realm one only spoke of in hushed whispers._

_It was considered to be a pagan society, the subjects all savages that did not deserve to grace Asgard. They had revered their princess when they discovered her powers, made her hone them and shape them until she was a master of fire and flame._

_It had been an arranged marriage, a way to unite the wealth of the two realms._

_The union fell apart when Thor declared he was giving up the throne, allowing Odin to rule for the rest of his days. Or so everyone thought._

_The deception was exposed after Odin demanded a re-coronation, in which he would be declared ultimate ruler and that no one could challenge his throne except on pain of death.  The court watched in horror as their king fell away to expose a man with shaggy black hair and piercing green eyes, the long-thought dead brother of Thor._

_The marriage was quickly re-arranged, the princess being declared his bride-to-be.  She was told to bring whatever she pleased to this new realm, since she would not return to her own._

_She brought her jewels and gold as required per the marriage contract, her trusted man-servant Brenton (a slave picked up from her father’s journeys to Asgard as a present for his daughter’s birth) and her wolf Nanna (another present from her father, given to her when Nanna was just a pup)._

_The entrance into the royal court was a sight to behold, a sea of red and orange flooding through the hall as Princess Shula entered. The men of the court were entranced by her beauty, and so was the new king._

_He smiled at her as he stood and raised his hands to the court._

_“Welcome your new Queen!” he declared to the sound of cheers.  For strange as it may sound, the people had grown to adore their new king.  His policies were excellent and his battle tactics were impressive. There was no fault to be found in him._

_Shula shook a little in fear as she took in the tall, lean figure standing before her in green and gold, his crown reminding her of a horned beast that had terrified her in childhood._

_She wondered if it was too late to run back to her kingdom._


	3. The Banquet

“It is an honour to be in the house of Odin,” Shula replied as she curtseyed, and she saw the king frown.

“It is no longer Odin’s realm and I would appreciate if you would refer to it as such,” Loki replied coldly before he approached her, his form towering over hers.

Nanna growled and Shula hushed her quickly as Loki ran a hand over her cheek.

“Such an attractive woman to be coming from a land of savages,” Loki commented absentmindedly before dropped his hand. “I am told you are a master of fire.”

Shula nodded hesitantly before she opened her palm to him, the flames sparking and dancing across her fingertips as Loki watched in rapt attention.

“Fascinating,” he mused before he used his hands to close her palm.

In a flash he was on the ground, Nanna lunging at his throat as he tried to fight her off.  The guards quickly rushed forward and pulled the blonde wolf from him, the animal snarling and lunging with all her might as her hair bristled.

“Keep that curr on a leash!” Loki spat as he rose up from the floor.  Shula noticed every move he made was calculated and smooth as he made a gesture with his fingers and the wolf was locked in chains.

“What are you doing?” Shula gasped as Nanna continued to growl.

“I am merely protecting the realm of Asgard. We cannot have such an untamed animal walking the premises, now can we?” Loki replied as the guards began to lead the animal away.

“No, please!” Shula protested. “She is my only true companion, I promise I can control her!”

Loki shook his head.

“Some just need to learn to respect those above them,” Loki murmured as he watched the animal flash her fangs at him.

Shula tried not to sob as Nanna was led down the corridor, who continued to snarl.

Shula felt the king place a hand on her side, the long fingers curling around her hip.

“We all must make sacrifices, dear princess,” Loki purred before he took her hand and kissed it. “And besides, we have plenty of animals in this realm that can fill the void caused by that wretched beast.”

She wrung herself from Loki’s grasp and watched him.

“Are the rumours true then, that you have no heart?” Shula gasped. “That is was frozen long ago when you went to Jotunheim?”

Loki appeared to wince for a moment before he settled his features.

“Cruel words won’t get her back,” he commented calmly before he gestured to one of the guards, who approached him.

“Take her to her separate chambers to make herself ready for the banquet tonight,” Loki ordered, and the guard approached her with a polite smile.

She was led out of the court and down an opulent corridor composed almost entirely of gold and jewels.  A door was opened at the end of the corridor, and Shula gasped.

The room was exactly the same as the one she had back in Azar, down to the drapery around the bed and the tiger-skin rug on the floor.  She remembered her father telling her that the creatures had been plentiful in Midgard once, but that they were slowly being hunted to extinction.

“It is truly like you never left, my liege,” a familiar voice gasped in awe, and Shula turned to the source of the voice.

The young man had pale skin and flaming red hair, his arms marked in black swirls that looked like rising smoke.  She still remembered the day he was given to her by her father, a pale starving youth that had been rescued from the slums of Asgard.  Her father had given him a second chance at life, to work as her constant companion and confidante, a servant and a friend at the same time.  The ream of Azar had been stunned at first that the king would entrust a boy to be the companion to the future queen, but it only took a glance to realize he was steadfast to her and loyal to his duties, which in no form included inappropriate fraternization.

Shula barely resisted running into his arms.

“Oh Brenton, I am quite frightened,” she gasped as she held him tightly. “The king is much colder than I anticipated.”

“My queen, remember what you came here for,” Brenton soothed as he rubbed her black tenderly.

“What will he do with Nanna?” she asked as she released Brenton from her grip.

“I heard a guard say he is going to lock her in the prison he held in before he took over the throne.  It will be completely impenetrable, no way in and no way out,” Brenton replied.

“Are you certain?”

Brenton nodded.

“Quite certain,” he replied before she buried her head in her hands and gasped, her long black hair fanning across her face as she sat there motionless.

There was a knock on the door, and the princess jerked up.

“My queen?” a voice asked hesitantly. “King Loki has sent us to help you prepare for the royal banquet tonight.”

Shula’s eyes fell on the ensemble of Asgardian maids, all holding items of wealth and beauty.  One of them held a red dress covered in simple patterns and jewels, reminding her of a sari she used to wear in her youth.

She nodded for them to enter.

She silently let them twist her hair into complex braids and fit her into the elegant dress, her eyes glued to herself in the mirror as she watched her own culture be stripped away with each passing moment.  The simple sari she had been wearing was removed and replaced by a knitted shawl of golden thread, her hair uncovered.  She marveled at how they were intertwining jewels and gold into her hair with expert precision.

“You are quite radiant, your grace,” one of the maidens complemented. “I am sure our king will be more than glad to welcome you into his kingdom.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“She should be banished from the realm.”

Ragna looked up from her scrolls in surprise. 

“Pardon, my liege?” she asked gently.

“The wolf should be banished from the realm,” Loki repeated as he lounged in his seat, absentmindedly twisting complex patterns that formed shapes and figures for mere moments.  Ragna noticed he seemed to form the image of a woman with long brown hair and piercing brown eyes before it faded away quickly.

Loki had been the first king in millennia to request a royal advisor, and the realm was stunned when he chose a woman with a dead eye and no ties to the royal court.  Rumours swirled that the two were hopelessly in love and that he made her his counsel so that they could be close to each other.

The truth was far more complex.  Her husband Albert was half-Jotun, the result of an enchantment cast on a Midgardian who had stumbled into Jotunheim.  One of the royal advisors became enchanted with her and demanded to make her his bride.  When she refused he had her cursed to detest any other man she saw but him.  She had died not long after childbirth, but the child had survived and grown up in Jotunheim, hidden amongst the shadows.  He was tasked with helping to save the crown prince of Jotunheim from the destruction of the Asgardians, but he failed.  The remaining Jotuns cast him out to the edges of the universe, where he was found by a wanderer who had also been cast out by her family for her visions.  The pair had fallen in love and was wed within months of knowing each other, keeping themselves hidden from the rest of the world.

Loki had found them when Albert was quite ill, almost on his deathbed.  He had taken pity on the man (back when he had pity to spare) and saved him, in exchange for Albert’s wife to become his royal counsel.

“You are displeased that not everyone is as enchanted with you as you would hope?” Ragna teased as Loki frowned.

“I am your king,” he pouted. “You will not belittle me.”

“Despite what people think my lord, I am millennia ahead of you and the rest of this realm. Age brings me wisdom, your respect, and the ability to treat you like the child you are capable of being.”

Loki growled.

“Now why do you simply not kill the wolf if she displeases you?” Ragna asked.

“I need Shula’s trust.  If I merely kill the beast, then she will shut me out entirely,” Loki replied as he made a red sari appear for a moment before waving it away with a brush of his hands.

“And banishment will not result in the same reaction?” Ragna asked as she rolled up the scrolls. “You must play your cards carefully.  This is not like when you took the throne, where you could just flick your wrist and conjure the vision the world wanted to see.”

Loki smiled to himself at the memory.

“This is a matter of the heart,” Ragna continued. “And if you are not careful…”

Loki nodded before he began to conjure images again. 

Ragna noticed the brunette woman had popped up again, kind and strong.

“You did what you had to,” Ragna commented as the image faded away.

Loki did not respond as he arose from his seat.

“We will keep her in my prison cell until further notice,” he declared. “In fact, I think I’ll pay the animal a visit.  After all, I want to make sure she is being treated as per my standards.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“You are quite a vision, Princess Shula,” a voice murmured.

She turned to the source of the voice to find herself gazing at her betrothed.  She smiled politely.

Loki grabbed her hand and kissed it before he rubbed his thumb across the top.

“We can be allies in this instead of enemies,” he murmured gently. “Just say the word and I will give you whatever it is your heart desires.”

Shula pulled her hand from his grasp and shook her head.

“What I desire you cannot give me,” she replied gently.

She went to sit at the head table.  Loki watched her lower herself into the seat beside his so gracefully it was no wonder she was destined to be a queen.  She was radiant and warm, while he was cold and calamitous.  He watched her engage in conversation with one of the courtiers and frowned.

“You must give it time, Loki,” Ragna murmured before she pressed something into Loki’s palm.

He looked down at the object and frowned in confusion.

“Where did you find this?”

“At the edge of the borders,” Ragna replied simply.

 Loki held up the coin for a moment, marked in a strange tongue that he could not decipher.

“Have they found…” he began gently.

“Yes.  He has disappeared to Midgard for the time being, and we are certain he will not return,” Ragna replied with a small smile. “Which means he will return by the end of the year.”

Loki smiled to himself before he pocketed the coin.

“And her?” he asked almost worriedly, and Ragna frowned.

“It is unlike you to care for the likes of a Midgardian, my lord.  She will follow Callidus wherever he goes, of which you are startlingly aware.”

Loki hissed for a moment.

“You should not waste….” Ragna began before Loki shot her a glare.

“Tell me I’m wasting my time on her and I might just blind you in your other eye,” Loki spat.

Loki turned from Ragna and greeted his guests with politeness and charm, Ragna noticing with amusement how some of the courtly women were swooning in his presence.  Those vapid, vain women would not have paid the slightest bit of attention to the young king if he was not in power, and Ragna frowned.

Loki was like her son, and she worried for him, especially considering the vision she had the night before of him with a long blue scar wrapped tightly around his throat as he clawed desperately for air.

“I welcome you all to my kingdom, and a special welcome to my bride-to-be, Princess Shula of Azar,” Loki declared as he spoke to the crowd. “I hope that this union will unite our realms for complete prosperity for many generations to come.”

Ragna watched Shula sip her wine, her bangles clinking against the glass before a piercing scream travelled through the hall.  The crowd stopped and turned to each other, murmuring worriedly.

The screams and cries sounded purely animalistic, and Ragna winced as each scream became more and more desperate until silence fell over the hall.

“Hopefully that is not an omen on our marriage,” Loki joked weakly, and Ragna noticed he was shaking a little as the crowd chuckled.

Loki shot Ragna a glance and nodded to her.

Ragna scampered out of the hall quickly and down to the dungeons, where the guards stood stoically and stared at her.

She walked past them and down to the main prison at the centre, the clear walls stained with blood as the wolf was slamming itself against the barriers.  Ragna noticed with horror that a few of the claws had forcibly been removed, the animal limping around its enclosure.

“What have you done to her?” Ragna asked the guard standing nearby, who only sighed.

“She has done this to herself.  The beast started screaming and slamming herself into the walls for no reason,” the guard explained.

“Well are you going to leave her there to bleed to death?” Ragna growled.

The guard only shrugged and faced forwards.

“We are under orders that no one is allowed to interact with her except the king,” the guard explained as the animal began whimpering.

“As the royal advisor, I command that I be allowed to…” Ragan began menacingly.

“Is she alright?”

The guards and Ragna looked to see Shula standing there worriedly before she rushed towards the enclosure, kneeling before she pressed her hand against the glass.  She seemed to murmur something and the beast stopped pacing before she barked weakly.  The princess murmured something back and the wolf protested louder before Shula slammed her hand against the glass and the beast ceased to make any sound.

“She is quite skittish at times, she needs constant attention,” Shula declared. “Bandage her up and make sure she is fed. I will assign Brenton to care for her.”

“My liege, King Loki said….” One of the guards began.

Shula glared at him fiercely.

“I am to be Queen.  Obey me,” she growled before she rose from her kneeling position and walked back to the main court, her dress fanning out behind her.


	4. Jotunheim and Memories

“I was beginning to believe you would not show.”

Shula looked up from stringing her bow and watched the king mount his horse, a strange creature of eight legs that Loki patted fondly once he was sitting comfortably in the saddle.

“As the future Queen it would be wise to learn more about the neighbouring realms,” Shula replied as she slipped the bow over her back, the taunt string resting across her front.

“But surely a fire princess does not wish to go to Jotunheim,” Loki teased as Shula mounted her horse, a copper steed that made Loki’s face soften for a moment as he remembered someone else riding that same animal only a few short years ago.

“It does not matter what I want,” Shula replied with a sigh.

She felt long pale fingers wrap around her wrist.

“You will be Queen. You do not need to bend to the will of others just to please them,” Loki murmured as he stroked her wrist for a moment, his cool fingers brushing over her skin for only mere seconds before she was released.

“Then you obviously do not know the duties of a Queen, my lord,” she murmured before she rode out, her raven-coloured hair fanning out behind her as she galloped away.

Loki quickly followed her, lost for a moment in the recollection of another maiden uttered that exact same phrase.

 

**_“Then you obviously do not know the duties of a Queen,” she had murmured as she walked amongst the blooming flowers, cupping a honeysuckle before she settled in the field. “I don’t have the wisdom for that!”_ **

**_Loki settled beside her, his fingertips tracing up and down her spine tenderly as he held her._ **

**_“And the fact I am human…” she began sadly, only for Loki to hold her closer and sigh.  She rested her head on his shoulder as they watched a group of soldiers begin to prep themselves for a cavalry charge.  The major wanted to run through a cavalry charge to boost up the soldiers’ morale, to make them eager to fight the Germans.  For him, it was  matter of life and death, of honour and disgrace._ **

**_For Loki it was merely another battle in another war._ **

**_“There are…enchantments, that could be cast,” Loki began slowly as he brushed a hand across her back. “They are quite difficult to conjure, but they could extend your life for thousands of years…”_ **

**_He turned to her._ **

**_“At least…if you want to live thousands of years….” He began nervously.  He didn’t want to utter the last part, that she would probably have to spend the rest of eternity with him if she agreed.  And who was to say that she would want to?  She was young, and human, and fragile.  Perhaps too young to make this decision based on only a month or so of acquaintanceship._ **

**_She kissed him gently and pulled away._ **

**_“Of course I do,” she replied before she intertwined their fingers. “It will give me more time with you.”_ **

**_She chuckled._ **

**_“And it would still not be enough….” Loki purred before he brushed his lips against hers with tenderness._ **

**_“CAPTAIN NICHOLLS!” a familiar voice boomed._ **

**_Loki chuckled to himself as the broke apart before he helped the girl to her feet and kissed her soundly again._ **

**_“Meet me by the stables tonight Sigyn,” he whispered urgently as he pulled away._ **

**_She giggled._ **

**_“Wouldn’t miss it for the world!”_ **

****

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Looks like traitors prosper in the house of Odin,” the Frost Giant declared as Loki and Shula arrived in the court of the Jotuns.

“I have come to speak to you about reparations for the damage done to your realm when Odin was in power,” Loki replied. “For his almost-destruction of Jotunheim.”

The Frost Giant leaned back on his throne.

“And why do you wish to do this, son of Odin?” the Frost Giant rumbled, and Shula didn’t miss the wince that crossed Loki’s features as soon as Odin was mentioned again.

“I am about to enter a new era of prosperity and change in Asgard, and only wish to gather allies in the Nine Realms,” Loki responded. “The Jotuns and the Asgardians have warred for centuries, and I believe we could make better allies than enemies.”

The Frost Giant watched him, his red eyes piercing through the pair as if he could see into their hearts.

“You have engaged into an alliance with the Azarians?”

Loki turned to Shula and nodded.

“They once came to my realm before, with torches and axes, ready to destroy my world from the ground up,” the Frost Giant continued. “How can you be certain they will not do so again?”

“I give you my word that my people will not harm you,” Shula declared.

The Frost Giant pondered for a moment.

“We will consider the alliance on one condition,” the Frost Giant replied after a moment. “If any Asgardians, Azarians or any of your other allies try to invade my realm, we will be allowed to promptly execute them.”

Loki nodded.

“So do I have your loyalty?” Loki asked.

“For now, son of Odin.  For now.”

 

\--------------------------------------------------------

 

  _“You must feed her only enough to keep her alive….”_

_She blinked groggily as she tried to survey her surroundings._

_It was a small hut, with a dirt floor and a stiff cot._

_“….leave the wounds….”_

_“Hello?” she called out hoarsely, only to be prodded in her side._

_“…no other visitors…”_

_She winced in pain as the prodding hit something. It felt like they were touching raw flesh._

_She sunk back into unconsciousness._

\-------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Do your dealings normally go so well with the Frost Giants?” Shula asked in interest once Loki and her had arrived back in Asgard.

Loki chuckled.

“The last time I went to see them personally I was plotting to have my father killed,” Loki replied with a smirk, making Shula gasp in horror. “Of course, that did not go exactly to plan…”

Shula shuddered at the image of one of those creatures leaning over her bed with an ice dagger poised.

“Are you certain they will not go back on their word?”

Loki seemed to twirl a coin between his fingers absentmindedly before he flashed it away with a flick of his wrist.

“When I fully assumed the throne, I was tempted to tell them who I was,” Loki began as he sat down on a chair in the shared chambers.  Loki was going about his courting slowly, refusing to allow them to share the same bed until Shula was comfortable enough to do so.

The man was, oddly enough, more noble than Thor in that regard, despite Loki’s somewhat dark past.

_Shula remembered when she first came to Asgard as a girl and was told she was going to wed the crown prince, a tall youth of muscle and blond hair that made every young woman in the court swoon.  She distinctly remembered having too much wine that night and being sent back to her chambers early, only for Thor to drunkenly pound on her door and demand to join her._

She shuddered in revulsion.

“After the coronation I went to see the Frost Giants to see if we could make each other an offer.  My…my brother was on the throne, and he greeted me with such derision I wanted to rip his head from his neck.  He told me he knew what I was, and as long as he could use this knowledge when it suited him we could begin to make arrangements,” Loki spat.

Shula jerked up.

“Thor was on the throne of Jotunheim?”

Loki shot her a glare before he groaned.

“Has no one informed you of my past?” he hissed angrily. “Or were you only told the parts that make me look like a god with no heart and no sympathy?”

“You nearly destroyed a realm in a quest to claim a throne,” Shula risked muttering, and in a flash Loki was towering over her, his arms trapping her to the chair.

“And I won, didn’t I?” he replied with a smirk. “It’s not my foolish brother who is on the throne, is he?”

Shula glared up at him defiantly.

“You do not need to spin tales to make you look like a tragic hero when we all know the truth,” she spat. “You stole the throne from your father because you could not be satisfied with what you had!”

Loki’s grip tightened on the chair as he glared down at her. He leaned in close to her, his cool breath brushing her face. 

“I was born to be king,” he growled. “And then Odin took me away from my own realm so he could use me as a pawn in his own little twisted game of chess.”

He gripped her arm suddenly and she gasped as painful coldness began to creep into her veins.

“I’m a Frost Giant who was convinced he was an Asgardian,” he spat. “And now I am expected to marry an Azarian, the savages who have not only tried to destroy my own realm but this one as well!”

Shula glared up at him despite the pain rising in her arm.

“You remember that, don’t you?  We were both so young,” Loki mused with a cold smile. “I distinctly remember an Azarian who wanted power so badly that he was willing to take another kingdom and burn anyone who was caught in his sights.  My mother hid Thor and I from harm, but for the rest of Frigga’s days her right upper arm was molted and ruined by fire.  She was able to hide it with a simple cloaking spell, but I knew the pain she carried. All from a mere savage despot.  How is your father, by the way?”

Shula released herself from his grip before she shoved him against the wall, her hand bursting with flame.

“You walk on a fine line Loki Odinson,” Shula growled. “The only reason I agreed to come here in the first place was because my father convinced me it would be better.”

“Laufeyson,” Loki corrected with a smirk.

“You want to die by flame like the rest of your kin?” she spat as she held the flames close to his face.  He visibly winced for a moment before he composed himself.

“Shame, and I thought this marriage might be agreeable,” Loki commented before he grabbed the arm trapping him and froze it, making her howl with pain as he slipped free.

He began to saunter out of the shared rooms before he was shoved into the golden table, and he whipped around just in time to dodge a fireball that landed on the table beside him.  His back pressed against the edge of the table, Shula trapped him with her arms which were covered in dancing flames.

She chuckled at Loki’s shock.

“Did anyone ever tell you that I was the head huntress back in Azar? It’s a very noble title, means I can slay anything using only my hands. No weapons, just me…” she hissed. “And my prey.”

“Little princess has fire after all,” Loki commented as his eyes darted towards the flames. “I was wondering when your savagery would come out.”

“Pick your next words carefully Laufeyson or the realm might lose their king.”

“Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice,” Loki replied calmly before he

placed his hands on her hips and leaned in close.

Shula stared at him for a few moments, the flames dancing calmly.  

“From what I've tasted of desire,” he purred as he stared back at her, cold blue eyes locking with warm russet ones. “I hold with those who favor fire.”

She let the flames die down as she placed her hands on his hands and shoved them away with a grunt.

“You’re a masochist,” she spat.

“Ah, but my dear, so are you,” Loki replied with a grin as he crossed his arms.

“And what makes you say that?”

Loki only grinned wider.

“You heard all the horrors about me, all the pain I have caused, and yet you came here anyway.  That either makes you unbearably dull or incredibly masochistic.”

She grabbed his lapels.

“I’m not dull,” she growled before she shoved her lips against his.

His arms wrapped around her waist as he hoisted her onto the table, grinning as she began to bite at his neck.  Loki purred as he ground against her before kissing her intoxicatingly.

Maybe this could work after all. 


	5. The Strange Girl In The Hut

_“Hello?”_

_She stirred and tried to roll so she would face forward in her cot, opening her eyes blearily._

_The man standing in front of her was tall and quite thin, almost gaunt with hunger as he tried to reach for her. His long black hair was matted and filthy, his clothes streaked with dirt and what appeared to be dried blood.  He looked like he would collapse at any moment and she began to sit up in bed so that she could help him._

_“No no, stay where you are.”_

_She frowned in puzzlement._

_“Don’t say a word, just let me speak.”_

_She nodded for the odd man to continue._

_“Whatever happens I need you to trust me. Do you recognize me?”_

_She shook her head, and she watched a grin cross the man’s features before it faded away quickly._

_He opened his mouth to speak when he shook and collapsed against the wall with a groan, his eyes slipping closed._

_She didn’t waste time rushing forward and kneeling down in front of him, checking his pulse for a moment._

_He had an arrhythmic heartbeat and she pressed her fingers into his neck to check for a pulse there, only to find the same result._

_“Si moriar antequam expergiscor, Animam meam accipere Dominum precor,” he murmured._

_She glanced at him, at the sharp cheekbones and the thin lips that were muttering the phrase. He would be quite handsome if he was fed anything._

_“I thought I told you to stay…where you are,” he murmured as he tried to open his eyes._

_She opened her mouth to speak, and nothing came out. She tried again, the only sound emitted a low sort of whine that sounded vaguely animalistic._

_“Don’t use this,” the man murmured as he touched her lips for a moment._

_He tapped her forehead gently, and she cupped his long pale fingers in her own._

_“I thought I wasn't supposed to say a word,” she replied in her mind, and she shook at the sound bouncing around the walls._

_“I meant with your mouth,” he replied. “You won’t get far with that.”_

_“Where am I?”_

_The man opened his mouth to reply when he disappeared in front of her eyes._

_“Where am I?” she yelled in her mind._

_She opened her mouth to scream._

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Loki!”

The king stirred in his opulent bed, looking over to the sleeping figure beside him.  She was still sleeping like a lamb, and he marveled once more at her beauty.

“Nanna is crying in her prison.  The guards told me she hasn't shut up since last night.”

Loki threw on a robe and pushed past Ragna.

“I will need to speak to her about that,” he growled.

Ragna winced as she heard the whip being snapped a few times, and wondered if it was really wise to leave this all to Loki and Brenton.

The beast was uncontrollable, something they had found out in the past few weeks.  She had already cut Brenton’s arm to the bone with her claws, and the man was currently in the healers ward, being treated for a series of gashes and bites along his other arm.

Loki had somehow remained unscathed, and Ragna feared this would not last.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Where are the Warriors Three?”

Loki looked up from his food and grimaced.

“They ran off to find my brother once he abdicated the throne.  As far as my scouts are aware they are camping just by the borders of the kingdom, biding their time until they think I will be at my weakest.”

Shula clasped his hand.

“Does it frighten you?”

He chuckled.

“Why would I be frightened? I am king now, they are merely rebels.”

Shula nodded before she risked rising from her chair and settling across his lap.

She expected him to stiffen and push her away, but instead he kissed her neck tenderly and wrapped an arm around her waist.

His actions towards her had shifted since that moment in the shared rooms.  This morning he had kissed her forehead to awaken her, a surprisingly romantic gesture.  For the duration of the day he had cast her almost loving glances, winking at her for good measure every so often to make her flush red. And now here he was, completely ignoring his dinner so he could worship her neck.

“Has someone melted your heart?” she found herself teasing lightly.

“Loki?”

He stiffened as Ragna walked into the room, her clothes covered in blood before he pushed Shula out of his lap.

“Nanna is only getting worse, my lord,” Ragna confessed.

“I will take care of her,” Shula declared. “She was my companion for many years, I know her best.”

Shula gathered up her dress and made her way down the corridor and down to the dungeons as Loki and Ragna glanced at each other for a moment before their eyes followed her.

“She seems rather assertive for a princess we were told never left her father’s palace.”

Loki chuckled.

“She’s a lot of things we were never informed of.”

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

_She gasped as she tried to spit out the blood that was filling her mouth, her hands raw with cuts and bruises as she curled herself against the wall._

_She forced herself not to cry, wiping at her eyes furiously as the pain assaulted her sides.  She clutched at them desperately until she felt a pair of cool hands rest on her wrists._

_“Give them to me,” the man commanded, and she obeyed all too willingly._

_He closed his eyes for a moment and she watched green tendrils shoot across her hands and along her sides.  She watched the skin appear to heal itself before he released her from his grip._

_“Thank you,” she murmured in her thoughts._

_“I cannot stay long,” the man gasped as he stood up._

_“How can I repay you?” she breathed as she observed him._

_“Tell me who is doing this to you,” he replied angrily._

_“This…this has happened before?” she asked in confusion._

_He gazed at her and sighed._

_“It must be the first time it broke through,” he murmured to himself.  “Do you remember anything of how you were wounded?”_

_She shook her head automatically._

_“Are you certain?”_

_She nodded quickly._

_“No voices, nothing?”_

_She pondered this, and grinned in triumph._

_“I heard a young woman yelling, saying something about…I don’t remember.”_

_“And she had a name?”_

_She felt the name creep on the tip of her tongue._

_“She was….”  She began._

_She suddenly lurched forward and expelled her stomach painfully, the bile coating the dirt floor._

_“She was…” she tried again weakly, only for her to begin to dry heave._

_“She…” she struggled out before she found herself fading away._

_“Stay with me!” the man commanded as he gripped her shoulders._

_She struggled to stay awake._

_“LOKI!” the voice screamed in horror, and she jerked up in fright._

_“No no no no no,” she gasped as she tried to crawl into the corner, curling into herself._

_The last thing she felt was a sharp pain across her side like someone was burning it open before she slipped into blackness._


	6. Queen Shula of Asgard

“Queen Shula of Asgard!”

The court arose from their seats and clapped politely as she gracefully walked towards the second throne, her arm tucked into her husband’s.

The ceremony had been lavish and elegant, and everyone confessed that the couple looked joyful and beautiful together, the rouge of her wedding gown complementing the jade of his wedding attire.

People began placing bets when the announcement of her inevitable pregnancy would arrive, some saying she was already pregnant and that it would only take a month before the announcements would be made.

“You look divine, my queen,” Brenton murmured with a grin.  He had been let out of the healing ward for the ceremony, only just able to support himself if he leaned onto a chair.

“And how is Nanna?” she asked worriedly as she looked over to Loki.  He was having a discussion with a man she did not recognize, with jet black hair and bright blue eyes.  He looked quite young, but those eyes seemed to hold such wisdom she felt a little startled when they glanced at her for a moment.

“She is safe in her prison cell, my queen,” Brenton murmured. “Although what are these rumours that she attacked the king?”

Shula sighed.

“She was about to bite his neck when I found them and luckily intervened,” Shula admitted with painful look flitting across her features. “I am not sure it is safe to keep her around if she is becoming a danger to us all.”

“But my queen, she is your most steadfast companion! Next to me, of course,” he joked lightly. “Are you certain that the best solution would be….”

“I believe I am with child,” Shula replied hurriedly. “And I do not want to risk Nanna putting my child in danger because she cannot control herself.”

Brenton nodded as Loki approached them.  Shula watched the figure Loki was talking to slip into the corridor and she was about to ask where he was going and who he was when there was a loud bang.

The court murmured to themselves before there was a short series of cracks coming from the prisons below.

Shula rose from her throne only for Loki to signal for her to remain seated before he turned to Ragna and murmured something.  Ragna’s eyes widened and she practically ran out of the main hall, Loki following behind her.

Shula shook her head and followed them.  If they were doing something with Nanna, she needed to be there to make sure they didn’t hurt her. 

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------

 

**_“Oh father, she’s wonderful!” the young princess cooed._**

**_“Her name is Nanna, and she will be your steadfast companion,” her father declared as he handed over the small wriggling pup._ **

**_Nanna licked Shula’s face and barked happily, her tongue lolling out of her mouth._ **

**_Shula placed the wolf pup onto the ground, and she giggled when the wolf ran around her legs a few times excitedly._ **

**_“Father, I want to show you what I learned today!” Shula declared happily as she spread out her fingers and made a fireball appear._ **

**_She blew on the fireball and made it float into the air before it disappeared in a flash of smoke._ **

**_“Excellent darling!” her father congratulated._ **

**_“That’s not all!” she declared excitedly._ **

**_She summoned a fireball again._ **

**_“Nanna, come here!”_ **

**_The wolf pup trotted up to her happily._ **

**_In an instant the fireball shot from her hand and landed on the pup’s side, making the animal begin to whine and whimper before it stopped._ **

**_Shula turned to her father, whose mouth was hanging open in shock._ **

**_Shula repeated the stunt, fireballs landing all over the pup’s body until it was screaming in pain, and Shula felt her arm being clamped by her father._ **

**_“Where did you learn to do this?” he asked softly._ **

**_“No one taught me Father, I learned to do so myself!” the princess declared happily._ **

**_Her father suddenly scooped her up in his arms and whooped with joy._ **

**_“Are you happy, Father?” she asked._ **

**_“Oh darling, I’ve never been more proud,” he replied as he kissed her forehead tenderly. “To think, you can be a head huntress!”_ **

**_The wolf continued to whimper and whine as its flesh and fur were being burnt._ **

**_“Be quiet!” the king growled as he kicked the animal._ **

\----------------------------------------------------

 

_“Follow the sound of my voice.”_

_She looked towards the door from her bed._

_“I promise, I’m not here to hurt you,” the unfamiliar male voice continued soothingly._

_She nodded as she slipped out of bed and padded towards the source of the voice, coming from the hut door._

_“Now, I want you to tell me your name.”_

_“Nanna,” she replied automatically as she remembered the frightening voice calling her that. “What’s yours?”_

_“Merlin.  Nanna, what do your surroundings look like?”_

_She glanced around her for a moment._

_“I’m in a clay hut with a cot and not much else.”_

_The unfamiliar voice swore._

_“She’s trapped more tightly than I thought,” he murmured distantly. “Nanna, I want you to try and picture your favourite place. Can you manage that?”_

_She nodded and closed her eyes, searching for her favourite place._

_There was only one place she could remember, and the details were quite hazy._

_It was a warm, comforting room, with a crackling fire and objects strewn all over the place.  She remembered a black leather chair for some reason, and as she scrunched her eyes tighter a figure began to form in the seat._

_“Good good, keep going!” the voice encouraged._

_The place faded for a moment before it returned, and the leather chair was now occupied by a little girl with soft blond hair and piercing green eyes that seemed to be watching someone behind her.  She turned towards the figure the little girl was facing and her heart stopped._

_He was the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life, and the smile adorning his features made him all the more handsome.  He was tall and thin, his hair black and his eyes a pale blue as he watched the little girl._

_“I got you a present,” he rumbled to the little girl as he knelt down in front of her._

_The little girl tore into the package excitedly before she looked at the gift and gasped.  She flung her arms around the man and squealed._

_Nanna watched the scene, fighting back tears at the tenderness that was apparent between the pair.  She reached forward to touch the man’s suit jacket when she felt her body erupt in pain as she fell to her side._

_Something was pressing into her side forcefully and before she could think she felt something warm and soft in her mouth before she bit down, and blood filled her mouth._

_“Loki, help me!” the frightening voice screamed. “Oh God Loki….”_

_Her jaws were pried open as the image around her swirled away and when she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the hut._

_She was staring into the eyes of a beautiful young woman who was being held back by the man from before, who looked much healthier and healed.  There was a young man there as well with large ears who was holding his hands out to her as gold swirled out of his palms and she realized he was holding her back somehow._

_“We need to kill her,” the frightening voice yelled, coming from the young woman. “She is attacking even me!”_

_Nanna found herself snarling._

_The man stared at Nanna for a few moments before he closed his eyes and sighed._

_“I will find the guards.”_

_Nanna whimpered and whined as he began to walk away._

_“Loki!” she tried to yell, but it came out as a strangled bark. “Please!”_

_He didn’t even look back._

_She looked at the young woman, who was binding her leg and looked oddly satisfied with herself._

_“Merlin, help me please!” she cried out, and the man with the golden dust floating around him stopped and watched her._

_“You…you made it through,” he breathed for a moment._

_“I don’t want to die Merlin, please!” she sobbed as she moved closer to him._

_She was blinded for a moment and once her vision returned, she was standing in a field somewhere.  She looked at her surroundings and noticed a castle in the distance, completely in ruins._

_“Are you alright?” Merlin asked as he approached her._

_She was about to answer when she felt an odd tug around her navel._

_“Merlin?” she asked fearfully._

_Merlin growled for a moment._

_“She’s fighting me to get you back,” he murmured before he disappeared from view with a cry, and Nanna watched her surroundings fade back to a prison cell, where she was surrounded by guards._

_She didn’t even have time to scream before something was plunged into her skull._

_\--------------------------------------------------------------------_

Loki watched the guards plunge the sword into the wolf’s skull and he set his mouth in a thin line.

“It is better this way,” Shula murmured as she stroked his arm. “We will be safe now.”

He nodded and walked back to the main banquet hall, plastering on a charming grin as he reassured his guests that there was nothing to worry about.

Shula remained silent, only nodding to those who spoke to her.

Merlin had disappeared in a flash, refusing to even speak to Loki once they emerged from the prison cell.

Ragna watched as some of the servants dampened their cloths and began cleaning out the cell of all the caked blood and dirt, to make room for the next guest.

She allowed a few tears to fall.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_She awoke with a jerk as someone prodded her with their foot._

_“She’s not dead, is she?” a male voice asked in concern. She liked this voice, it sounded warm and comforting._

_“Is she one of yours?” another male voice asked worriedly._

_“No,” a deep voice rumbled. “She has suffered a fracture to her skull.”_

_She felt a hand brush against her cheek._

_“She’s so young to be out here by herself,” the warm voice commented._

_“Now is not the time to be sentimental to the homeless, John,” the deep voice murmured._

_“But she’s hurt Sherlock!” the man called John protested. Why did she recognize that name?_

_She groaned, and she felt a pair of hands prop her up._

_“Are you alright?” John murmured as she opened her eyes, and she found herself staring at the kind face._

_“I’m…” she began as she took in the faces and stopped._

_The handsome man was watching her critically, his cool eyes roaming over her frame and she never felt so exposed._

_“I’m f –” she began before her head started to pound and she closed her eyes._

_She opened them again to find she was alone in a prison cell, a figure in red watching her._

_“You didn’t think you could get away that easily, did you?” the voice growled._

_“You’re bound to me for life, my dear.” The woman chuckled coldly. “And you can only leave when I say so.”_


	7. Favours and Truths

“You were in the wrong.”

Loki looked up from his scrolls and groaned.

“I do not need a lecture from a man whose realm faded from existence,” Loki nearly snarled as he looked at the young warlock.

Young being a relative term, of course, considering Merlin was practically as old as Loki himself. 

“There was a young woman trapped in that body and you just allowed her to be executed!” Merlin protested. “A young woman, frightened and alone.”

“Did you think I was not aware of that?” Loki growled as he tossed something onto the table.

It was a coin with strange markings on it.  Merlin picked it up and flinched as it felt like the coin was burning his flesh before he dropped it with a hiss.

“This was the talisman keeping her trapped,” Loki declared as he pulled out a thick volume from one of the bookshelves behind him.

“And how would killing her help?” Merlin asked.

Loki opened it to the appropriate page and nearly slammed it down onto the table angrily.

“I’m hoping it would break the bond.”

Merlin studied the book’s contents for a moment, tracing his finger along the words.

“These aren’t supposed to exist anymore,” Merlin breathed as he stared at the coin.

“Not in your realm,” Loki replied with a hiss as he lounged in his chair. “Azarians, however, are magpies.  Anything shiny and festive they’ll snatch up in an instant.”

“You think this came from Azar?” Merlin asked worriedly.

“Shula has an imprint on her palm that she normally keeps hidden with gloves and the like.  It’s the same shape and symbols as the coin,” Loki explained. “I noticed it the first day I saw her.”

“These are governor medallions.  Whomever possesses the dominant mark controls the submissive one,” Merlin murmured. “But you are supposed to destroy them after you are finished with them….”

“And this is the dominant one?” Loki asked before Merlin nodded.

“It’s written in a coded Latin,” Merlin declared.

“Can you translate it?”

Merlin shook his head.

“Not easily, no. This isn’t like a cipher, where each word follows the same specific pattern.  Each word has its own code,” Merlin grumbled.

“Hello you two,” Shula declared, and Loki quickly swiped the coin into his pocket and snapped the book closed. “Are you alright, Loki? You have seemed troubled since the demise of Nanna.”

Loki nodded.

“It is better for our child,” Shula murmured tenderly before she gave Loki a quick peck on the lips.

Merlin bowed to Shula for a moment before something beeped in his pocket.  He pulled out what looked like a Midgardian cell phone and was staring at it in surprise.

“Apparently I am needed,” Merlin declared with a small chuckle. He kissed Shula’s hand politely before he threw on his jacket. “It was quite a pleasure to meet you.”

“You too,” Shula replied as Merlin practically sprinted out of the hall. “He’s an odd man, isn’t he?”

Loki chuckled.

“He’s always been like that since I met him.  Head in the clouds sometimes, but he’s so sharp during other moments you temporarily forget he’s over a thousand years old.”

“He is quite youthful for his age,” Shula commented with a smile.

“He’s the only Midgard whom I’ve met who somehow achieved immortality,” Loki replied with a small frown, and Shula rubbed his arm.

“Does that trouble you?”

Loki smiled weakly.

“No,” he lied expertly. “No, it doesn’t.”

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“You’re late.”

Merlin chuckled.

“Not even a hello, hmm?” he teased as he spun around in the room to face the voice. “You certainly haven’t changed one bit in your patience.”

“Patience has never really been his strong suit,” a man commented from the kitchen.

“Still keeping him around?” Merlin commented as he slipped off his jacket and sat down on the leather sofa. “I thought he was wed by now.”

“Mary does not mind that he stays here sometimes,” the tall man commented. “Especially since the loss of…what was her name again?”

Merlin heard a mug shatter against the kitchen floor.

“You damn well know what he name was. You were her godfather,” John growled angrily.

“And is that supposed to make an impression?” Sherlock murmured.

Merlin watched John whip on his jacket and storm out of the flat, each step precise and furious.

“I need you to find someone for me,” Sherlock murmured as he pulled out his cell phone.  He scrolled until he found the image and handed the phone to Merlin.

The young woman was bloodied and bruised, but her face was still distinguishable.

“She was here for approximately two minutes and then she disappeared. I want to know where,” Sherlock murmured before he rose from his seat and crossed the room.

“And why do you think I can find her?” Merlin asked as he studied the photo again.  She was quite pretty actually, underneath all that grime.

“Because isn’t that what you do now while you search for your lost king? Hire yourself out to find what others have lost while never finding what you desperately want?” Sherlock replied with a smirk.

“Not all of us have a brother who dotes on us to give us money,” Merlin replied with a scowl.

“Mycroft doesn’t dote in me,” Sherlock replied with a snort of derision.

“I’ll try to find her,” Merlin countered. “And then what do you want me to do with her?”

“Bring her to me.  She could be useful,” Sherlock murmured as he pulled out a picture from a pile on the mantelpiece and studied it for a moment.

Merlin threw on his coat and began to walk out the door.

“Sophia,” Sherlock murmured.

“Pardon?” Merlin asked.

“Her name was Sophia.  Sophia Phoebe Watson.”

Merlin smiled.

“I’ll look for her too.”

Sherlock nodded curtly before Merlin closed the door.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

**_“You are putting yourself into a bad situation.”_ **

**_Jim looked up from his sketch at Major Stewart, who was scolding one of the soldiers._ **

**_He was tall and strong, his blond hair clipped close to the back of his head._ **

**_Loki was reminded of Thor and closed his eyes before rubbing his temples._ **

**_He had left Asgard for good reason.  He needed to get away from the constant celebration of Thor’s existence and the constant sorrowful glances he received from the people of the court when he could not be anything more than a shadow of his brother._ **

**_“We cannot afford to leave women behind,” Stewart declared. “War doesn’t bring any guarantees you will return to her.”_ **

**_“So is there some rule now that soldiers are not allowed to see their sweethearts?” the man replied with a smirk._ **

**_“It is not wise,” Stewart replied evenly._ **

**_“If you are not pleased with me you are free to cast me out,” the man replied just as evenly._ **

**_“Fortunately for you, you are one of the best soldiers this squadron has ever seen,” Jamie grumbled._ **

**_“I promise I will return by nightfall,” the man replied as he tucked his hands into his pockets._ **

**_“By supper,” Jamie countered. “Return by supper, and not a minute later.  I have a feeling you’d disobey me if I objected outright.”_ **

**_The man grinned._ **

****

**_Jim was cleaning his blade as he watched the soldiers file into the mess hall.  He saw a few of them glance fearfully at the sword in his hands and he chuckled to himself before he sheathed it and placed it under the table._ **

**_“You really shouldn’t scare the troops like that,” Waverly murmured with a grin.  He was a shorter man with clipped black hair, a bit more jumpy than Jamie but also a tad more caring about the squadron._ **

**_“Fear is an excellent motivator,” Jim replied with a smirk._ **

**_“Fear is a paralytic,” Jamie muttered as he slid in beside Jim. “Love is better motivator.”_ **

**_“The great Jamie Stewart, talking about love? Now I’ve seen everything,” Waverly teased._ **

**_“Jim, I think you need to have a little chat with Private Theodore Francis,” Jamie murmured as he poured himself a drink._ **

**_“You mean that arrogant sod who refuses to listen to anyone but himself?” Waverly broke in with a chuckle. “Good luck with that.  I think I saw him messing around with the horses actually when he was supposed to be polishing his uniform.  As soon as I walked in he just turned to me and blatantly lied.”_ **

**_“Why was he with the horses?” Jim asked as he took a bite of his pork. God, Midgardian food could be so bland sometimes._ **

**_“Trying to impress some girl.  I think she’s the sister of the stable hand or something.  Fairly pretty, actually. Very quiet though….”_ **

**_“She’s a hard worker and that’s all that matters,” Jamie replied with a curt nod._ **

**_“But she’s still quite pretty, in a quiet sort of way,” Waverly continued._ **

**_“Captain Nicholls?” an unfamiliar voice broke in._ **

**_Jim looked from his dinner to see the stable hand standing in front of the table._ **

**_“Yes?”_ **

**_“The…the beam above Joey’s stall seems to have broken, sir. The horse is fine, but there’s a young man lying in the stall with a broken leg.”_ **

**_Jim swore and rose from his seat before he made his way to the stables._ **

**_He walked in to see the beam broken clean in half as Francis was hobbling out of the stable, dragging his leg._ **

**_“What happened?” Jim nearly growled as he looked over Joey for any cuts or bruises.  Luckily the horse seemed to be fine, munching contentedly on his hay and oats._ **

**_“Nothing of importance,” Theo replied with a smirk._ **

**_“You risked my animal for what? A woman? Trying to impress a woman?”_ **

**_Theo nodded._ **

**_“Don’t we all do stupid things for love, sir?” Theo replied mockingly._ **

**_“Watch your tongue,” Jim hissed._ **

**_The back doors of the stable swung open and a young woman rushed in with two other soldiers._ **

**_“George and Michael are going to take you to the infirmary to let them look at your leg,” the young woman murmured as the two soldiers approached, and Jim found himself staring._ **

**_She wasn’t beautiful by any means, but she was still quite striking, her eyes betraying a sharp intelligence as she made Theo lean against the two soldiers._ **

**_Theo suddenly leaned forward and kissed the girl, making Jim clench his fists involuntarily before he realized what he was doing._ **

**_“Don’t forget about me,” Theo purred as he was led away._ **

**_“I’m so sorry about your horse, sir,” the young woman murmured to him, brown eyes locking with green ones. “Theo was trying to impress me and…”_ **

**_“It’s….fine,” Jim breathed._ **

**_Her brown hair was swept up into a bun, a few loose tendrils curling around her face and Jim watched her approach Joey and stroke his neck a few times._ **

**_“Your horse is beautiful,” she murmured as she touched the star on his forehead._ **

**_“As are you,” Jim murmured with a small grin, and he watched the woman flush._ **

**_“I would not call myself beautiful, sir,” she replied bashfully._ **

**_“Then what do they call you?” Jim asked with a grin._ **

**_She chuckled a little._ **

**_“Sigyn.”_ **


	8. Rash Actions and Tough Decisions

She traced the scars softly as she looked up at Shula.

“You’ve already hurt me enough!” Nanna pleaded as she watched Shula summon another fireball.

“You tried to escape.  That warrants some form of punishment, hmm?” Shula murmured before she sent the fire flying, making sure it landed on Nanna’s arm as Nanna screamed in pain.

“Anything else you would like to add?” Shula mocked.

Nanna watched Shula through eyes narrowed into slits as she tried to forget about the pain for a moment.  She had bones broken and reset so they could be broken again, she’d been pummeled with fire until almost her entire body was scarred and she felt the mark made by the medallion burn with every pump of her heart.

And yet she actually smiled at Shula as the blood dripped out of her nose.

“How does the king feel that you are pregnant with Brenton’s child?”

Shula’s mouth popped open in shock.

“Oh, I noticed all those late night clandestine trysts you two had.  How could I not? You were having them against the wall of my prison, after all.”

Nanna felt her arm be ripped out of her socket, making it dangle there uselessly.

“Mention that again and I’ll cut out your tongue,” Shula growled.

“Such a little whore for a queen,” Nanna taunted, her eyes blazing in anger. “Such an ambitious little whore.”

“Oh, you think because you’ve found your voice now you can treat me like this?” Shula growled. “We saved you from death in your realm. You owe us your life.”

Nanna smirked.

“I don’t owe you anything. I don’t owe anything to a people that took pleasure in torturing me until I bled.”

Nanna felt a pain in her stomach and looked down to see that a knife was sticking out of her middle.

“Perhaps we can re-create that….” Shula growled.

_\-----------------------------------------------------------------------_

_“It is not wise.”_

_Loki looked up at his father desperately._

_“She is loyal and kind to me Father.  She has shown unwavering loyalty to the realm, something not all of your precious guards can say they have done.”_

_Odin sighed._

_“You are young and in the throes of young love.  You do not understand the implications of what you are asking,” Odin insisted._

_“She would make an excellent queen, Father!” Loki insisted._

_“She is a Midgardian, Loki.  She will barely live to see a kingdom flourish!” Odin replied evenly._

_“So find an enchantment, let the healers give her a potion, anything to keep her alive for as long as we live!”_

_“It would be dangerous to her,” Odin replied._

_“Father, she has proven herself loyal in battle! Did she not save Thor from the second attack of the Azarians? Surely she deserves some sort of reward for saving the crown prince!”_

_“Enough!” Odin yelled. “What she deserves is the chance to go back to her own realm, for her own safety and protection!”_

_“She will be safe with me Father! I swear!” Loki insisted._

_“If she remains, you will forfeit your right to the throne,” Odin replied evenly. “I will not stand to have a Midgardian ruling over Asgard when they are not capable!”_

_“Not capable? Father, some of the greatest kings, nay, world leaders have emerged from Midgard! And some of them did more in their reign then you have ever done in yours!” Loki responded with a growl. “She will stay.”_

_“Do not test me, Loki,” Odin growled. “You are lucky I have not banished you two outright for this insolence you are so eager to show!”_

_Loki set his mouth in a thin line._

_“I will make you a bargain.  What year is it now, in Midgardian time?”_

_Loki pondered for a moment._

_“1914.”_

_“In a hundred years, if you still feel for this woman what you feel now, you may retrieve her from Midgard and make her your wife,” Odin declared._

_“Father….” Loki began desperately. “She will be long gone before that point!”_

_Odin almost smiled._

_“Then you already have your answer.”_

_Loki clenched his fists and stormed out of the grand hall, trying not to scream._

_“Good afternoon Loki,” a familiar voice declared brightly._

_In an instant the man was shoved against the wall, a dagger poised at his throat.  The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed for a moment as he swallowed before he locked eyes with the prince._

_“Please put down the knife Loki,” Merlin murmured, causing Loki to press the knife against the man’s flesh._

_“Put the knife down,” Merlin commanded with a slight note of anger, and Loki complied, slamming the knife so hard against the ground that it shattered._

_“He will not allow her to stay?” Merlin asked softly._

_Loki found himself beginning to crumple when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and hold him for a moment._

_“He told me…” Loki began as Merlin rubbed circles into his back.  It was odd, having a father figure that looked barely older than you, but Loki wasn’t one to talk about strangeness._

_His father rode an eight-legged horse for crap’s sake, a horse Loki had found wandering around the wilderness that had instantly bonded with him.  So of course Odin just took him away and made him the official king’s stallion._

_“He told me that I must wait one hundred years before I can bring Sigyn back to this realm again,” Loki admitted._

_“And she will die before that point,” Merlin stated._

_Loki nodded._

_“Do you love her?”_

_Loki scoffed._

_“Of course I do.”_

_“Then I will help you save her,” Merlin declared. “There’s an old spell I know that could help.”_

_Loki nodded eagerly._

_“It will kill her,” Merlin murmured. “As soon as the spell is cast it will kill her.”_

_“How will that help?” Loki nearly yelled._

_“But, I can bring her back, keep her frozen for a century. I know a tree I can keep her in and when the time is right, I will bring her back.”_

_Loki nodded._

_“Are you certain this will succeed?”_

_Merlin sighed._

_“It’s all we can hope for.”_

_Loki watched Sigyn talk happily with a few of the handmaidens and didn’t resist scooping her up into his arms and kissing her tenderly._

_“What’s with the sudden show of affection?” she gasped as he kissed her neck, her eyes, everywhere tenderly and softly._

_“I adore you,” he murmured as he clasped her tightly. “I absolutely adore you.”_

_He felt her go limp in his arms as the handmaidens screamed, and Loki passed her to Merlin quickly._

_“Go, before my father catches you!” Loki hissed, and he watched Merlin scamper out of the palace, carrying Sigyn in his arms._

_And he prayed he had made the right decision._

_\------------------------------------------------_

**Loki opened his eyes to the sounds of wailing, and for a minute he wondered if he was back in his prison cell back in the depths of Asgard.**

**“My queen, oh my queen,” Brenton was yelling, and Loki did not hesitate to run out of the room and into the shared chambers.**

**He clapped a hand over his mouth and tried not to gag at the sight before him.**

**The queen was lying on the floor, blood pouring onto the opulent tiger skin rug as a dagger stuck out of her heart.  Her head had been stabbed into as well with a kitchen knife, perhaps to prevent her from recovering.**

**“What happened?” Loki growled angrily.**

**“I-I came to your chambers to awake you when I found her like this,” Brenton sobbed.**

**Loki looked into the unblinking clouded eyes of his wife and closed his eyes for a moment before he opened them.  His eyes were now hard and determined as he ran down to the dungeons.**

**“Where is she?” he growled to the guards.**

**“She is in her cell, sir,” one of the guards murmured before Loki pushed past them.**

**Nanna was sitting in her cell, nursing her wounds when she saw something slam through the front of her cell.**

**She couldn’t even scream before Loki grabbed her and twisted his hand around for a moment, the pair disappearing with a shimmer.**

**The last thing the guards heard was loud screams as she disappeared.**


	9. Truths Are Revealed

“You killed her!”

She looked up from where she had fell as Loki screamed at her.  They had landed in some odd glade, complete with a trickling brook and a field nearby of wildflowers, and she briefly wondered if the pair of them had died and this was the afterlife.

“Why did you kill her?” he growled, his hair wild and tangled, his clothes tattered a little from the pair falling through a forest of trees after they had tumbled into this world.

She rose unsteadily to her feet and tried to breathe through her nose to calm down her pounding heart.

“I asked you a question, Nanna,” Loki hissed as he advanced towards her. “Or is that even your name?”

“If I have another name I don’t know it!” she replied angrily. “And yes, I killed her!”

She took a deep gulp of air and tried to fight back the tears trickling out of her eyes.

“I killed her because I didn’t want to spend another day in those dungeons, waiting for the next hit or the next bruise or the next broken bone!” Nanna screeched. “Because I decided to save myself from one step closer to death!”

Loki ran a hand through his hair and growled.

“You couldn’t have waited?” he hissed as he pulled out a twig from his hair and flicked it aside.

“Waited for what?” she challenged. “For my funeral?”

“For me!” he yelled. “For me to give that woman all that she deserved and more!”

Nanna stared at him.

“She didn’t deserve to die like that, so simply!  She deserved to be locked away in chains and beaten until she couldn’t speak, to be forced to remain in a dungeon for thousands of years waiting for release only for it to never come!  To be cast aside and forgotten!”

His eyes were blazing and Nanna took a step back in fear.

“He didn’t deserve to be on the throne!” Loki spat before his eyes widened.

“This isn’t about Shula, is it?” Nanna asked softly. “What…what happened?”

Loki closed his eyes and growled.

“Nothing of consequence to you,” he hissed before she bravely stepped forward and rested a hand on his arm.

“You can tell me,” she murmured.

In an instant she was on the ground, her cheek blazing as Loki glared at her in anger, his palm still raised.

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” he spat.

“Oh, so that’s how you choose to respond? My my, aren’t we just as petty as Shula,” Nanna taunted. “All beauty on the outside and dead at the core, yes, I can see why you two married each other after all, masochists to the core you two!”

“Compare me to that woman and you won’t have a tongue,” he growled as he began to pick brambles from his hair and clothing, hissing in pain as he removed some from his flesh.

“If you detested her so much then why did you marry her?” Nanna responded as she shakily rose to her feet.

“An alliance, that was all I wanted. Not this, not some woman desperate to be queen, not some servant desperate to dispose of me and not some girl who couldn’t save herself!” Loki yelled.

“Couldn’t save myself? In case you haven’t noticed, I was the one to stab that little bitch in the heart, not you. I saved myself just fine!” she growled.

“And before that? Who do you think saved you then? Do you understand how many times I had to intervene and make sure you weren’t killed?” Loki hissed. “How many times I had to go down there myself and make sure they didn’t do to you what they did to me?”

Nanna blinked in shock.

“Everyone thought I was so blind not to see it, the bruises, the scars, the burns.  I was just the manipulative king who was so focused on his throne that I didn’t notice manipulation of the cruelest form!” Loki ranted. “Because I know what it’s like, to be tortured and to think there is no one there to save you but yourself.  So you fight it, and you protest, and then you break.  You let yourself break into a million pieces and you learn to accept it.  You chose to block it out, to succumb to the enchantment that kept you a wolf.”

Loki stepped forward and cupped her wrists as she flinched.

“And now you shall see all of what I have done for you, whether you like it or not.”

She tried to pull away.

“How do I know this isn’t some trick of yours?”

He chuckled weakly.

“Because why would I waste my time lying to an insignificant Midgardian like yourself?”

He closed his eyes and murmured something as gold began to swirl around her wrists and up her arms.  The dust clouded her nose and she felt herself collapsing onto the soft grass.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

 

_“The wolf should be banished from the realm.”_

_He had noticed the scars, of course she had.  A wolf as majestic as her shouldn’t have fur falling out in patches around its stomach, shouldn’t limp like its claws had been ripped out._

_He needed to get her out, somehow.  As terrible as it was to admit, he saw something in her that frightened him._

_He saw himself, before he was able to claim the throne.  A terrified prisoner who was biding his time and hoping one day his execution would not be ordered.  You couldn’t trust Odin to keep his word when it came to the wrong son._

_“We will keep her in my prison cell until further notice. In fact, I think I’ll pay the animal a visit.  After all, I want to make sure she is being treated as per my standards.”_

_He hurried to the cell and sent away the guards as the wolf growled at him._

_“We won’t get far with that,” he teased as he pulled out something red and dripping, tossing it into the prison with a loud smack._

_The wolf stared at the meat for a full minute before looking up at him._

_“You can eat it,” Loki murmured as he watched the creature. “It won’t bite back.”_

_The wolf sniffed the meat again before taking a hesitant bite, and then another until it had gobbled the whole thing down.  It looked up at him and he shrugged._

_“Sorry, that’s all I could sneak out for you.”_

_The wolf grumbled and lay down at the other end of the prison._

_He opened his mouth to speak when he shook and collapsed against the wall with a groan, his eyes slipping closed._

_She didn’t waste time rushing forward and kneeling down in front of him, checking his pulse for a moment._

_He had an arrhythmic heartbeat and she pressed her fingers into his neck to check for a pulse there, only to find the same result._

_“Si moriar antequam expergiscor, Animam meam accipere Dominum precor,” he murmured. If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take._

_He was getting weaker now, he couldn’t keep visiting her in this hut buried under layers of magic.  It was weakening him to do this every night, but to see her face and make sure she was healed was enough for him._

_It had to be, there was nothing else he could do for her without being noticed._

_He appeared as his most vulnerable self in hopes it would get her to trust him, and it had worked, but the constant illusion was also a drain.  He was too tired to keep doing this, he needed to get her out soon or he might not make it._

_He knew Merlin would know how to get her out, a constant friend all these years that had once pitied a young boy with odd talents that the world seemed to shun._

_He needed to find him, and soon._

_“Nanna is crying in her prison.  The guards told me she hasn’t shut up since last night.”_

_Loki threw on a robe and pushed past Ragna._

_“I will need to speak to her about that,” he growled._

_He ran down the steps and paused in front of the cage before he kneeled down and pressed his palm against the glass barrier._

_“You need to stop Nanna, it isn’t going to help,” he murmured. “You can scream, but no one will care enough to hear you.”_

_The wolf gazed at him and cried out painfully. He still couldn’t understand her in this form, though he had tried._

_“Please hush,” he soothed before he stood up as she quieted down and stared at him with much too intelligent eyes, blinking but not necessarily seeing._

_How the hell did he ever think she was just a wolf?_

_Shula was getting much more violent with Nanna, and Loki knew he needed to move fast if he was going to get Nanna out in one piece._

_He needed to free her from her form, though, and that was beyond his abilities._

_He had called Merlin to the court for the wedding, a reasonable excuse, and when he explained his plan, Merlin had agreed almost immediately._

_“There is one thing you must know, Loki,” Merlin had warned. “When she awakes she might not get through entirely.  It’s a complex spell, parts of her may be trapped in there while others manifest immediately.  We need enough time to extract everything.  And once I get her out, I can get her back to her home.  But she will need to remember it so that I can see what she pictures and send her there.”_

_“And where is that?” Loki had asked hurriedly._

_Merlin had chuckled._

_“The same place Sigyn is. Midgard.”_

_“I will find the guards.”_

_Nanna whimpered and whined as he began to walk away._

_He was going to have Shula arrested on accounts of treason, have her imprisoned and punished for her crimes.  This was the point of no return for him._

_He had returned to find the wolf bound down and the prison guard plunged their sword into the wolf’s skull, and for a moment Loki was holding his breath._

_“It is better this way,” Shula had murmured as she stroked his arm. “We will be safe now.”_

_He nodded and walked back to the main banquet hall, plastering on a charming grin as he reassured his guests that there was nothing to worry about._

_Because if his plan worked, forget about banishment or imprisonment._

_Shula was going to die._

_He had raced to the dungeons to find a young woman sleeping there, bruised but very much alive._

_He tried not to cheer._

_The execution had worked, the bond was broken._

_He could get her home to Midgard, and in exchange bring back someone much more precious._

_Sigyn.  He could bring home Sigyn, dispose of Shula and have the two of them rule Asgard for the rest of eternity.  Merlin knew spells that could be cast to keep Sigyn alive, and perhaps give her immortality._

_He could finally get a happy ending, for once in his life._

_She had ruined it all._

_The Queen Shula was dead, and there was no way he could help her escape without risking her being implicated for the crime._

_So he acted rashly and decided he would get her out the same way he had survived that fall from the bridge only a few short years ago._

_It was risky, making her travel through realms as a human, but he needed to take the chance and pray it would work._

_So he had attacked her and forced her into the first realm to the sound of her screaming in protest._

_Perhaps this wasn’t as well thought out as he had hoped._

_\-----------------------------------------------------_

Nanna awoke with a jolt to realize she was in a cave, snow blowing in from outside.

She looked down to see she was covered in furs as Loki seemed to be poking a fire absentmindedly.

He seemed to be inching away from the fire, and when she looked at him he smiled weakly.

“Jotuns don’t have a high heat tolerance,” he murmured as he looked out towards the landscape and shook his head quickly like he was trying to dispel something.

She realized she was in a simple dress of cotton and she slipped out from under the furs as she unsteadily approached Loki.

He looked up at her for a moment as she watched him, her eyes searching his face for any deceit.  She was stunned to find none as he turned back towards the fire.

“You should get back under the furs, you don’t want to die from hypothermia,” Loki chided. “Besides, I need to get you back in one piece.”

He chuckled to himself as a figure approached the pair.

He was abnormally tall, his skin a pale blue as he handed something to Loki with a grin.

“It was a bitch trying to get this,” the stranger murmured. “It’s considered one of Jotunheim’s crown treasures.”

“Albert, you will be rewarded once I am back on the throne,” Loki murmured back as he clasped the strange jewel.

“Is she ready to leave yet?” a familiar voice asked worriedly, and she looked over to see that Merlin was rushing in.  He stopped and gave her a cheerful wave before he turned to Loki.

“In a few hours,” Loki replied. “She is still weak from the knowledge I have given her.”

Merlin smirked.

“And you couldn’t have just told her?” Merlin teased. “Ah Loki, always the show-off.”

“Only for you Merlin,” Loki replied almost tenderly.

“Well, we don’t have a few hours,” Albert murmured. “The Jotuns have heard of Shula’s murder and want to ‘offer their condolences’.”

Loki growled.

“Which means they want to attack.”

She felt someone place an arm around her waist as she was hoisted up, and she turned to the person gratefully, smiling when it was Merlin.

“You look better,” he murmured cheerfully as he began to wrap her in furs. “Ready to go home?”

She nodded enthusiastically.

“Where is home?” she asked gently.

Loki looked towards the cave opening and quickly stopped the fire as a series of footsteps passed nearby.

“No time, just go!” Loki whispered. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Merlin turned towards Loki and frowned.

“What about Callidus?” Merlin asked worriedly.

Loki groaned.

“I’ll manage him.  Just make sure you’re there when I arrive!”

Merlin nodded and hugged Nanna tightly before she felt herself slip into unconsciousness.

 

“Are you insane?”

She jerked up suddenly at the sound of someone yelling, and she looked around her surroundings.

And then she pinched herself a little to make sure she hadn’t made this vision to comfort her.

The room was warm and comforting, the black leather chair just where she had imagined it.  The fire crackled as voices rose and fell in the kitchen.

“John, we should be happy Sophia is alive…” a female voice murmured, and it put her at ease for some reason.

Sophia? Was her name Sophia?

“We were supposed to raise her, not have her come back as a twenty year old!” the voice that must have belonged to this John yelled.

“At least this means that you won’t need to worry about insistent crying and no verbal communication,” a deep voice murmured, and she found herself leaning forward to hear more of this voice that sounded oddly familiar.

“Not helpful Sherlock,” the female voice murmured.

“Are you alright?” a voice asked nearby, and she jumped a little before she turned towards the source of the voice.

She was petite, her long brown hair tied back as her brown eyes watched Sophia (it sounded like her name, it would have to be good enough for now) with a relieved grin.

“Sherlock and I thought you would be out for longer, but…” she began before Sophia did a double take and actually screamed in shock.

“Are you okay?” the woman asked worriedly as Sophia saw a bunch of figures run into the living room.

“She must be frightened,” a shorter man with blond hair murmured as he knelt down in front of the couch to inspect her.

“Prodding her might not be helpful John,” a deeper voice nearly purred in amusement and she looked up at the source of the voice, to find herself gazing at the handsome man from what felt like so long ago. Sherlock, was it?

“Where is Loki?” Sophia nearly yelled.

“Loki? What…” John asked in surprise before he turned to a woman with cropped blonde hair and kind eyes who was watching Sophia tenderly.

Sherlock’s face softened for a second.

“He will return soon,” Sherlock murmured, and John shot him a confused look.

“How soon?”

Sherlock shrugged, and Sophia turned towards the woman with long brown hair.

The same woman Sophia had seen in Loki’s memories.

“What’s your name?” Sophia asked desperately.

“Molly, why?” the woman asked softly.

“Where’s Merlin?” Sophia asked Sherlock.

“He went to get Loki,” Sherlock replied.

“Sherlock! Stop playing to her delusions!” John chided angrily. “She probably remembers little as it is and we don’t need you muddling her brain up with talk of Norse gods….wait, how do you know about Norse gods and magicians anyhow?”

“Doesn’t everyone?” Sherlock replied with a shrug.

“Not you. I thought you’d delete all that type of…well, nonsense from your mind palace…”

Sherlock shifted uncomfortably.

“Actually John, there’s been something…” Sherlock began.

“Sigyn?” a familiar voice suddenly gasped.

The group turned towards the source of the voice, towards a man with slicked back black hair in a business suit who was watching the group hesitantly before he approached Molly carefully.

“Who are you?” Molly asked gently and nervously.

“Loki!” Sophia cried out in relief.

“Hello Victor,” Sherlock murmured. “I’m surprised to see you after all these years.”

“Likewise,” Loki murmured absentmindedly as he stared at Molly. “Oh Sigyn, you haven’t changed at all…”

“Sherlock, who is this?” Moly asked fearfully as she practically ran into Sherlock’s arms.

The look Sherlock shot Loki was pitying as Loki’s face fell entirely.

The look Loki shot Sherlock transformed into murderous.

“Callidus, get your hands off my wife,” Loki growled as he advanced towards Sherlock. “Or else.”

“Victor, if I had known…” Sherlock began almost apologetically.

“Don’t play that game with me Sherlock,” Loki growled before he pounced at Sherlock. “You’ll lose.”

Loki felt a sharp pain in his side and looked over to see that Sophia was standing there, panting.  He looked down to see a knife embedded in his side and he growled in pain as he fell back.

“Nice to see that knife come to good use besides holding mail,” the blonde woman joked. “And I’m guessing she inherited that from me?”

“Touch him again and you will die,” Sophia found herself growling angrily.

Loki lay on the floor before he was lifted up and carried off by John and Molly, who were murmuring to each other worriedly.

Sherlock was breathing heavily as he watched the young woman lean against the wall and pant a little.

“Thanks,” he managed to strangle out.

“No problem Sherlock,” she replied with a small grin.

“It’s rather spectacular how rapidly you have aged,” Sherlock murmured.

“How old was I when you last saw me?  Better yet, where the hell am I? What the hell is all this?” she asked as she gestured to her surroundings.

“You were three, you’re in London, you’re my goddaughter, this is my flat,” Sherlock responded automatically. “Hello Sophia.”

She nodded softly.

“Hi…Godfather.”


	10. In Midgard

"I protect her and this is the loyalty I receive," Loki grumbled as John bandaged his side.

"You're lucky it's only a shallow wound or we might need to take you to a hospital," John murmured as he inspected the rest of the god sitting on the chrome table. John frowned at the multiple scars on his pale torso and wrists, the angry red welts that seemed barely healed.

"He seems stable," Loki heard Molly murmur into her cell phone. "How's Sophia?"

She nodded a few times before she smiled and a Loki felt his heart swell at the tenderness of the action. The last time he had seen her that happy was…well, it was long ago now. And it was slowly becoming apparent that this wasn’t the same woman he had fallen in love with, despite sharing the same warm brown eyes and long chestnut locks.

"When did...that...happen?" Loki asked through gritted teeth as he gestured to Molly.

John chuckled a little as he inspected Loki's wrist.

"No one really knows, actually. Our best guess was when we began the great manhunt for Sophia," John replied. "They just bonded over the experience, we suppose."

"So it's all Sophia's fault," Loki grumbled.

John laughed.

"I'm not sure we can blame a child for what everyone guessed was the inevitable," John replied. "All they needed was a good push."

"Off a bridge," Loki mumbled before he leapt down from table and pulled his dress shirt back on.

He approached Molly and without a word snatched the phone from her grasp.

"What are you..." She began in shock.

"Hello Sherlock," Loki purred. "I believe you and I need to have a little chat..."

He sauntered away out of the examination room, the phone pressed against his ear.

John laughed a little as he gathered up his bandages and salves.

"What?" Molly asked defensively.

"You certainly know how to pick them Molly," John chuckled.

"How does he even know me?" Molly asked worriedly. "And what is all this Siygn business?"

"I'm not sure," John confessed. "Perhaps you remind him of someone?"

Molly shrugged.

"Actually, would you mind getting your phone back? I left mine back at the flat and I want to get Sophia examined," John requested as Molly gulped.

"I really don't want to talk to him," Molly murmured fearfully.

"You have to talk to him at some point," John reminded. “And I highly doubt he’s going to want to lash out at you.”

Molly sighed.

“That’s not what I’m afraid of.”

She took a deep breath and made her way to the waiting area, where the long pale figure was currently stretched along the chairs as he listened to whatever he was hearing on the phone. He tapped his long fingers against his thigh as he listened, his lip curling every so often before his mouth would set itself in a thin line. He glanced up at her and smiled politely before his face fell again as he gritted his teeth.

“You are lucky she holds you in a high regard or else....” Loki growled.

 

He pressed the end button and sighed, running a hand through his long black hair with a groan. Molly couldn’t help but notice the pendant hanging on a chain around his neck as he buried his face in his hands.

“Umm, sir?” Molly asked hesitantly, making his head jerk up.

“I was wondering if I could use my phone for a moment,” Moly asked gently, and the man frowned.

“It’s your phone, why ask for my permission?” the man asked in puzzlement.

“Because you might still be using it?” Molly offered weakly.

He tossed the phone to her and she caught it easily, surprising herself at the sudden show of dexterity. Where had that come from? Normally she was all hands and feet unless she was examining a corpse, and that had taken years of practice.

“Tell Sherlock that he doesn't need to be worried about me stealing you away,” the man declared with a weak smile. “It seems his little guard dog won’t allow it.”

He stood up and walked past her, at the last moment grabbing her wrist.

“We need to give him a little boost of confidence before it all crumbles, right?” Loki purred, making a shiver run through Molly. “Because I have a feeling he couldn’t compete with a god.”

Loki released his grip.

“And besides, I can be quite patient,” he declared. “After all, I waited a hundred years for you. What’s a few more?”

He slipped on his jacket before he slipped out the door, and Molly darted after him.

“Where are you going?” she asked, trying her best to be intimidating.

Loki just chuckled.

“None of your concern,” he purred before he flicked his wrist and disappeared in an instant.

Molly found herself staring at the space where he once was before she shook her head and groaned.

This was turning out to be a lot more complex then she thought.

She glanced down at the phone in her hand and quickly dialled the number.

“Hello?” Sherlock answered, sounding a little breathless.

“We need you to bring Sophia down to the clinic. John’s worried about her,” Molly declared. Her brow furrowed in confusion. “Why are you panting?”

“I-It’s nothing,” Sherlock replied quickly. “Sophia went into a bit of shock and Mary had me running around the flat to find some of the medicine John keeps locked up here for emergencies.”

“Then she needs to be brought to the clinic right away!” Molly replied quickly.

“No no no, she’s fine now. Just a little scare, that’s all,” Sherlock replied swiftly. “We can handle it. How’s Loki?”

“Fine. He just left,” Molly responded. “Disappeared into thin air. Sherlock, just what the hell is going on?”

“I promise I’ll explain it later, but for now, did he say where he was going?” Sherlock asked almost worriedly.

“He just told me it was none of my concern,” Molly recited, and Sherlock swore loudly.

“Whatever you do, don’t leave the clinic. Tell John to stay there too,” Sherlock ordered.

“What? Why? What’s going to happen?”

Sherlock chuckled weakly.

“Loki’s rather…unpredictable. I frankly don’t want to take my chances,” Sherlock replied before Molly heard the tone. She stared at her phone for a moment in shock before she stumbled back into the clinic.

“Sherlock’s in trouble, we have to go,” Molly declared to John, who hastily threw on his coat and followed Molly out the door and down the hall.

“And let me guess. He didn’t say what kind,” John grumbled. “Honestly, it’s like working with a child sometimes.”

“Try being married to him,” Molly replied before she stopped and her mouth popped open. “I-I mean…”

John stopped and stared at her.

“Married? You and him? Married?”

Molly nodded mutely before John groaned.

“And we were going to find out when?” John asked through gritted teeth as he continued to walk forward, Molly a few steps behind him.

“It was for a case, Sherlock needed to pretend to be getting married in order to arrest some vicar so he dragged me along and then said after it was over, ‘You know, we should just do it for real,’ and that’s how he proposed.”

John laughed a little hysterically.

“God help me Sherlock,” John murmured as he pushed open the doors to the street. “Look, we can talk about this…”

John looked up and his mouth fell open as a figure stood at the bottom of the steps. He was absurdly tall, with long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and muscles that seemed never-ending as he approached the pair.

“Where is he?” the man boomed. “Where is my brother?”


	11. The True Siygn

Loki growled to himself as he paced the room.

“How is it she doesn’t remember me?” Loki growled as he turned to face the figure sitting on the worn couch. Merlin was idly stirring his tea with a spoon as Loki paced back and forth. “You didn’t cast a forgetting spell, did you?”

“You know me better than that,” Merlin replied with a small smile. “Oh, by the way, Morgana told me to tell you congrats on taking the throne.”

Loki smiled to himself.

“It baffles me you two are together,” Loki confessed.

“After a thousand years old grudges are petty. Besides, you know I was always in love with her,” Merlin confessed with a sheepish grin. “It just took her awhile to come around to the same fact.”

As if on cue the young woman burst through the flat and ran towards Loki. Before he could protest she was holding him tightly, stroking his long black hair.

“Thank God you’re alright,” Morgana murmured as she took a step back. “You had me worried there for a moment.”

“You? Worried? When?” Merlin teased, making her glare at him.

“And you, my dear, why did you not ask for my help with that wolf?” she asked Merlin in amusement. “Were you afraid I would break the spell faster than you?”

Morgana turned to Loki and grinned.

“Always a competition between him and I,” Morgana confessed. “It’s rather petty, actually, but I think part of us can’t let go of that hatred we had for each other all those years ago. Ah well, c’est la vie.”

Loki chuckled as she stepped towards Merlin and kissed him tenderly.

“Besides, I love this clot too much to really care,” Morgana declared as she pulled away. “So Loki, why do you look like someone popped your balloon?”

“He tried to talk to Sigyn and she didn’t remember,” Merlin supplied. “Which is what puzzled me.”

He stood up and went to his bookshelf, pulling out a slim volume with writing so old that the letters were faded almost to obscurity. He inspected a page before he flipped it and inspected the next.

“So how is Frigga? I never hear from her anymore,” Morgana asked cheerfully.

“She…she died last year,” Loki murmured. “Killed by a Dark Elf.”

Morgana bristled.

“And the reason you didn’t bother to inform me was…” Morgana hissed.

“You weren’t there Morgana. None of us were. Remember when Odin made the declaration that no fraternizers of the traitor would be allowed into the realm?” Merlin commented.

Loki watched the teapot lift from the table and shatter into a million pieces as it hit the wall.

“That was from the French Revolution,” Merlin groaned as he inspected the growing stain.

“So you’re telling me I couldn’t see one of my closest friends because that, that heartless fool was angry that you wouldn’t be his little puppet? Thank god that man is dead or I’d…”

“He’s not dead,” Loki murmured.

“What?” Merlin asked in shock as he dropped the book. “What do you mean he’s not dead?”

“The staff won’t swear allegiance to me. I tried, but it only made it burn my hands trying to control it. I can only wield it if he remains alive,” Loki confessed. “In a deep, deep Odin sleep.”

“Why is the staff so important?” Morgana screeched. “Make your own staff, wield that and kill the bastard!”

“Asgardian custom only grants kingship to those who can wield the staff,” Merlin murmured as he picked up the book and placed it back on the shelf. “Any other staff means a usurpation of the throne, and a right by the Asgardian people to rebel against their monarch.”

“Who the hell came up with a custom like that?” Morgana hissed.

Merlin raised his hand sheepishly.

“Why in the hell would you…”

“After Odin’s father passed, Frigga came to me and asked for my help getting Odin onto the throne. His brother was the heir, but Odin thought he was, for lack of a better term, self-centred prick that was so focused on creating a cultural kingdom that he did not see the need to fight the Jotuns. Frigga, ahem, convinced me to make Odin’s staff the only object that could be wielded by a king, and anyone else who could not did not deserve the throne.”

“Convinced you? Convinced you how?” Morgana spat.

“Morgana now is not really the time…” Merlin soothed. “Besides, if we’re going to take on that subject I have a few issues with you and that prince…”

“Could you do please for the love of gods do this later?” Loki growled. “Why doesn’t Sigyn remember me?”

“Where did you meet her?” Merlin asked absentmindedly.

“At Sherlock’s apartment. Her and him couldn’t keep their hands off each other,” Loki grumbled.

Merlin frowned.

“Really? The last time we spoke she was complaining she hated him. Thought he was an arsehole with a superiority complex,” Merlin commented before his eyes widened. “Wait, what did she look like?”

“Same as always. Gorgeous brown hair and beautiful brown eyes, pale as cream.”

Morgana smirked to herself at the description.

“Shit,” Merlin gasped. “Oh shit Loki, you didn’t.”

“What?” Loki asked defensively.

“Did you kiss her or anything?” Merlin asked worriedly.

“When would I get the opportunity? When she’s in Sherlock’s arms?” Loki hissed.

“That’s not Sigyn, Loki. That’s Hel.”

Loki’s mouth fell open.

“Who’s Hel?” Morgana asked as her eyes darted between the two men.

“My daughter,” Loki breathed. “She’s my daughter.”

“Did you not clue in when she told you she works in a morgue?” Merlin asked in slight amusement.

“Well I didn’t exactly get a chance to examine her job description!” Loki snapped.

Merlin laughed a little.

“No wonder she doesn’t remember you…” Merlin grinned. “And here I thought the protection spell wouldn’t work on her.”

“Either you two start explaining what the hell is going on or I swear…” Morgana hissed.

“We’ll explain on the way. I need to get you to Sigyn before…” Merlin began.

In an instant he was slammed to the ground, gasping for breath as a figure emerged from the window.

“Brother?” a familiar voice boomed.

Loki closed his eyes and groaned.

“You have impeccable timing, dear brother,” Loki groaned. “Is there any possible way we can do this at another time?”

“Loki, you must atone for your crimes. Usurpation of the throne…” Thor began before he fell forward with a thump. Loki looked over to see Morgana with a large tome in her hand, grinning triumphantly.

“I’ve wanted to do that for years,” she confessed as she threw the book down. She looped an arm under Merlin and pulled him up, making him lean on her before she kissed the side of his head.

“Merlin?” she asked gently as Merlin groaned. “Merlin, where is Sigyn?”

“Scotland Yard…” he groaned.

“Pardon?” Loki asked in surprise.

“She’s…she’s a police officer. She goes by Sally Donovan.”


	12. Scotland Yard

“Scotland Yard?”

“Hello, I think I just saw some man appear out of the sky and run off to the city centre,” a woman declared frantically.

“What did he look like?” Sally asked in a bored tone as she doodled on her pad of paper. Lestrade had put her on phone duty while he went out to deal with a case in case anyone gained any information, but so far the office had been radio-silent.

“He was tall, with long blonde hair and this absurd tool thing. What was it? Some silver hammer-like thing?” the woman asked someone else before she returned to the phone. “I think it might be that man that was in London a year ago during all the weird stuff? The one with all the objects disappearing and things spinning, I don’t know.”

There was a pause.

“Hello?” the woman asked hesitantly. “Hello?”

The phone dangled off the desk as Sally threw on her jacket, swearing up a storm.

She bolted out of the office, dialling her phone frantically as she ran down the halls.

“Tell Lestrade to lock down the city,” she yelled. “Code 74496.”

“What?” the officer asked in confusion on the other end of the line. “What code? Sergeant Donovan…”

“Just do it!” Sally yelled as she heard the phone be passed off to someone else.

“What’s going on Donovan? We’re in the middle of a case,” Lestrade protested.

“Get another officer on it, I need you to meet me at Scotland Yard,” Sally declared as she made her way to the front doors. “Code 74496.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Lestrade replied before he hung up the phone.

“Shit shit shit!” Sally swore as she paced. Why now? Why did it have to be now and why did it have to be him?

 

_“Fuck!” she screamed as it felt like she was being torn apart limb from limb._

_“Hold still!” Merlin commanded as the gold magic continued to swim around her. “Unless you want to be killed as soon as you walk out on the street you have to trust me, alright?”_

_“You’re going to kill me right now!” she sobbed._

_“I can assure you I’m not going to kill you. I’m just changing you a little…” Merlin soothed as he stroked back the damp hair from her face. “You can’t be too careful with Odin, that damn watchdog of his sees all…”_

_Merlin kissed her forehead before he rested his hands on her face, causing her to scream as it felt like a thousand knives were being stabbed throughout her body. He brushed her cheeks as she watched her vision fade and her hair in front of her eyes become wiry and thick._

_Merlin removed his hands and she collapsed against him as she panted._

_“Now I need you to listen to me Sigyn. You can’t tell anyone who you are. You were adopted when you were two by a nice English couple and you went to a good private school. You went to the local police academy and passed with flying colours. You don’t date because you’re a workaholic and you rarely go out for the same reason. I already gave you some knowledge about modern technology so you won’t sit there just staring at everything. I’ve already set you up with a job but you need to work for a promotion yourself. Do you understand?”_

_Sigyn nodded._

_“What about Loki? Where is he?” she asked fearfully._

_Merlin swallowed._

_“It’s better if you don’t know,” he replied quickly. “Now c’mon, we need to get you dressed for your first day of work.”_

_“What…what’s my name?” she asked quietly._

_“Donovan. Sally Donovan.”_

_She nodded and slipped on her clothes._

_“Merlin?” she asked softly._

_“Yes?”_

_“Do you think…do you think Loki will come back for me? It’s been a hundred years after all, and…”_

_Merlin grinned._

_“That man adores you with every breath he takes. Just be patient, he’ll come eventually.”_


	13. A Reunion

She stood at the door, watching people pass by the building as she grew more and more worried.

She had heard about New York, everyone had. How Loki had gone absolutely mental and nearly destroyed the city in his quest to rule over Earth. Which honestly, had puzzled her to no end.

Loki didn’t care about Midgard in the slightest, always telling her how he wanted the Asgardian throne. 

“Midgard is chaos,” he had confessed to her one night as they lay together in his chambers. “You try to rule one insignificant portion of it and you have five people rushing to claim the same piece. It’s madness.”

“But is that not the same with Asgard?” she had asked gently. “One piece of a much larger empire that everyone wants to claim?”

He had grumbled at that, trying and failing to explain that they were certainly different before he stopped talking altogether and for once admitted defeat.

She smiled at the memory before she remembered why she was here.

Thor coming to Midgard was never a good sign, and that email she had received from Merlin a few days ago warning her to be on the lookout for Thor and his quartet of idiocy was never a good thing.

“Loki’s being his usual self, charming everyone everywhere he goes,” Merlin had written. “So of course some people are going to protest it with fire and sticks. I don’t imagine Thor would ever degrade himself to his father’s tactics, but we cannot be certain he won’t try to find you and use you as a chess piece to get Loki off of the throne.”

“Sally?” a familiar voice asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.

She turned to face the source of the voice, a panting Lestrade.

“I’ve already gone to the trouble of inputting him into the system,” Sally declared as she handed over the flyers. Each one had an identical picture of Loki with a description of his possible whereabouts in Paris.

“We need to make sure that all attention is drawn to him, alright?” Sally ordered as Lestrade nodded and went off to begin sending the flyers out to the local stations.

As Lestrade disappeared she watched a trio approach, the raven-haired woman supporting a thin black-haired man in a ratty brown coat. She didn’t even hesitate to run out the door and towards the trio.

The third member, a tall raven-haired man with piercing green eyes was staring at her in bewilderment before he rushed forward and held her tightly, his face buried in her hair as his shoulders quaked.

“Goddammit Loki, you just had to take the throne didn’t you?” Sally, or rather Sigyn teased as she held him tightly, causing him to chuckle in response through his growing tears.

“Oh Sigyn,” he gasped before his mouth covered hers and he kissed her desperately.

She wrapped her arms around him tightly and pulled him closer, his hands tangled in her hair as the pair drank each other in like they hadn’t seen each other in a century. Which, come to think of it, was all too accurate.

“Do you like the new look?” Sigyn asked as she came up for air, Loki kissing her neck tenderly.

“I…adore…it,” Loki breathed as he held her.

“If you two don’t stop I might need to send out a warrant for public indecency,” Merlin teased with a grin as the pair broke apart.

The silence was broken by a loud scream and the group looked over to the source.


	14. Sacrifices

“Loki, run!” Sophia screeched as she ran towards them, her eyes widening as a long dagger suddenly blossomed from her middle. She fell forward with a groan a few inches away from them and Loki didn’t resist running forward.

Loki went to remove the dagger as Sophia whimpered in pain, only for his hands to be held back.

“You might make it worse,” Merlin murmured as he inspected her form. “I’ve seen wounds like this before, and removing the knife might make the blood flow out faster.”

Sophia was staring back at them, her eyes wide as she gasped for breath.

“Loki please!” she cried out. “Please please please I don’t want to die, just make it stop…”

Her white shirt was growing red with blood as the man standing nearby grinned in triumph, his bright red hair shining in the sunlight.

“You thought you could just kill Shula, my dear?” the man growled as he stepped forward. “Leave her to die on a rug and expect it all to be over? You deserve to die as she did, just as slowly and painfully, knowing who killed you…”

The group heard footsteps approach but ignored it as they desperately tried to keep Sophia alive, Merlin brushing away her hair.

“Pull this damn dagger out of me!” Sophia gasped.

“You’ll die Sophia,” Merlin protested.

“I don’t care, pull it out NOW!” Sophia growled.

Merlin nodded mutely and pulled out the dagger smoothly, the blade coated in blood. Merlin watched in shock as Sophia rolled over and grabbed the dagger from his hands, stumbling to her feet as red began to drip on the cobblestones.

“I see, you want to die nobly, how quaint,” Brenton murmured with a chuckle. “If it’s a fight you want..”

He pulled out a long sword.

“Then let it be a fair fight. How’s this for a wager? Winner doesn’t get to die.”

Sophia growled a little.

“Which means you’ll lose anyhow,” Brenton chuckled.

Sophia took a deep breath before she grinned.

“Who says this will be a fair fight?” she murmured before she tossed away the sword and leapt at him with a snarl.

The group watched in awe as a blonde wolf with a hole in its side knocked the redhead to the ground, not even hesitating to bite his throat in one swoop before stepping off him as he gasped and panted for air.

Sophia collapsed nearby as she changed back, lying face up as the blood began to pour from her wound. Using the last bit of her strength, she grabbed the dagger and plunged it into Brenton’s heart with a satisfied smile before she became motionless, her eyes glassy and unseeing as she fell back with a smack onto the pavement.

“Sophia!” Mary screamed as she rushed forward, clutching the young woman to her as she sobbed.

“We ran after her as soon as she bolted out the door,” Mary explained as she smoothed away her daughter’s hair. “She just went mental, screaming that someone named Brenton was going to kill Loki. She attacked Sherlock and then just left. S-Sherlock went to find Molly.”

“Where is she?” John asked in an eerily calm voice as he approached, Molly in tow huddled into Sherlock.

“There was nothing we could do,” Mary gasped. “We tried to get here as fast as we could and…”

John easily moved Mary away, inspecting Sophia’s vitals as the group watched in anticipation.

John sighed after he checked for her pulse.

“She alive, but barely,” John declared as a whoosh of relief fell over the crowd. “If we take her to a hospital, she might make it.”

“I’ll do it,” Sherlock declared.

“Sherlock, you don’t have to…” Molly answered softly as Sherlock removed himself from her grasp.

“She’s my goddaughter,” Sherlock declared firmly. “She’s my responsibility as much as Mary’s and John’s.”

He easily picked up the young woman who feebly curled into him and carried her to a cab.

“The nearest hospital, please,” Sherlock murmured as he stroked away the hair covering Sophia’s face. She curled into his chest and seemed to sigh contentedly.

“Is this Heaven?” she asked feebly. “Because it sure feels like it.”

Sherlock chuckled.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but you’re still alive,” Sherlock murmured. “And frankly, you need to stay alive.”

“Oh fuck,” Sophia murmured. “And here I thought I could die a hero.”

“You could live as one instead, though the perks are a little insignificant,” Sherlock teased. “Trust me, I know. You get all sorts of rubbish like cufflinks and gratitude.”

“What a bore,” Sophia murmured.

The cab arrived quickly at the hospital and the cabbie helped to ease her out of the vehicle.

“You really should have taken an ambulance,” the cabbie groaned. “She looks like she’s on death’s door.”

“She’ll be fine,” Sherlock insisted roughly as he ran into the building.

Sophia felt the blackness creep around her vision as she was passed from hand to hand, her last sight before the slip into blackness Sherlock watching her with worry.


	15. Not While I'm Around

_“First time?”_

_Sherlock jerked his head up in the waiting room, as a young man with two children scampered along around them smiled politely at him. Young, mid-twenties, didn’t shave this morning, secretly having an affair with his sister-in-law but can’t bear to leave the kids with their mother, works at home as a painter but has recently loss inspiration, smoker._

_“Your wife will be fine,” the man reassured Sherlock. “I can tell you from experience that getting them out is easy. Putting them back in though, that’s hard.”_

_Sherlock chuckled once to be polite._

_“She’s not my wife,” Sherlock declared blankly._

_It had been a rather unfortunate situation, on the case to hunt down a London lowlife with Mary (John was at work doing a minor surgery, Mary was a decent substitute) when her water had broken, resulting in a hurried dash to a nearby cab and an even faster admittance into the hospital. Frankly Sherlock thought it would be faster to just deliver the kid in the alleyway but Mary had disagreed._

_“Mr. Jones?”_

_The young man jerked his head up._

_“You have a boy, congratulations!”_

_The man beamed as he followed the nurse into the nearby room, his children in tow._

_“Good luck to your girlfriend!” the man called out brightly._

_“She’s my wife you prick!” a familiar voice declared and Sherlock grinned as John stormed into the waiting room._

_“I got another doctor to do the surgery. How’s she doing?” John asked worriedly._

_“She seemed to be alright. They won’t let me into the room since I’m not the husband.”_

_He gave a pointed look to John who nodded for a few moments before his eyes widened._

_“Oh! Oh shit!” he declared loudly as he sprung up. “What room is she in?”_

_“Room 13,” Sherlock replied with a chuckle. “I think she’ll be happy to see you.”_

_John rushed to the nearby room and Sherlock lay back for a moment, closing his eyes._

_“Mr. Holmes?”_

_Sherlock opened his eyes groggily to notice no one else was in the waiting room._

_“The doctor says you can come in now,” the nurse murmured and Sherlock followed her silently, taking note of the silence in the rest of the hospital._

_“2 am?” Sherlock asked._

_The nurse shook her head._

_“4 am, this girl really did not want to come out,” the nurse confessed with a grin._

_The nurse left him at the door and Sherlock found himself unable to move for a moment as he took in the scene before him._

_Mary was holding a small bundle to her chest as she cooed at it, grinning from ear to ear._

_“It’s shameful Sherlock, I’ve become all maternal now,” Mary mock-whined as Sherlock approached. “Though I suppose that’s not a bad thing, really.”_

_She held up the bundle to Sherlock._

_“Do you want to see her?”_

_Sherlock shook his head._

_“C’mon Sherlock, you’re the godfather,” John protested sleepily. “And this might be good for one of your…experiments or something…50 kinds of…baby…”_

_“John seems more exhausted than you,” Sherlock declared with a chuckle._

_“He hasn’t been sleeping well for the last week, so sure I was going to go into labour overnight,” Mary confessed as she held up the child._

_Sherlock took the baby hesitantly, his large hand practically cocooning her head._

_“What’s her name?” Sherlock asked softly as the baby shifted a little in his arms._

_“Sophia Phoebe Watson. We think she can go by Phoebe if she doesn’t like Sophia,” Mary murmured sleepily. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m about to collapse.”_

_Sherlock chuckled softly as Mary conked out, leaving him alone with the child._

_He hated himself for it, but he felt this sickening sort of tenderness to the creature in his arms. Crap, he must be going soft._

_The baby snuggled closer to him, gripping onto the lapel of his coat eagerly._

_He dimly thought of that stupid song from that surprisingly enjoyable musical about meat pies and murder that he frankly didn’t care to remember the name of and hummed softly._

_“Nothing’s gonna harm you, not while I’m…around.”_


End file.
